Last week, I got to chill out with some of the Pudgy Penguins crew, as they launched the Oceania chapter of their NFT community. In case you weren’t aware, Pudgy Penguins are one of the top NFT collections, and have built a loyal fan base for these digital characters.

I went to a major Pudgy Penguin “Pengu Fest” in Hong Kong last year, and got to see first hand how engaged their members are. I also gained some insights as to how this ecosystem enables their NFT holders to license the IP associated with their individual characters into royalty-based income. In short, a subset of the NFT characters are chosen to be turned into merchandise. (For example, Pudgy Penguin soft toys are available in major stores such as Walmart in the USA, and Big W in Australia.) Owners of the selected NFTs earn a percentage of the sales revenue (less tax and production costs etc.).

The most recent collection of Pudgy collectibles are the Igloo figurines, which include early online access to Pudgy World. As a proud owner of one of these plastic figures, I’m still not sure what I have let myself in for…

As well as local meetups, other ways in which the community can interact include a trading card game called Vibes, also launched via the Overpass IP licensing platform.

Igloo Inc, the parent company to Pudgy Penguins and Overpass, has also announced it is launching a Layer 2 blockchain on Ethereum, to be called Abstract, and is being positioned as a “the blockchain for consumer crypto”.

Whatever your views on crypto, NFTs, on-line worlds and collectibles, there is no doubt that Pudgy Penguins have set themselves up with the admirable goals of building a healthy and inclusive community, underpinned by the twin pillars of individual creativity and positive culture.

To crypto sceptics (and the merely crypto curious), the “community” and the enthusiasm of its members could resemble something of a cult. Someone did say during last week’s panel discussion that “I am my penguin, and my penguin is me”. But there are worse things for people to get involved with – and for younger people (I don’t regard myself as part of the Pudgy core demographic), I can see the appeal. For example, your Pudgy Penguin PFP can act as a protective avatar as you engage and explore online – allowing you to share only the personal information that you want to, while you build up trust with other community participants, and before you choose to meet IRL.

There was also a discussion about the difference between meme coins and NFTs – the short answer is that the former represent pure speculation, while the latter aim to create value for their holders. In fact, someone suggested that meme coin trading is not that different to punting on betting apps. But since most NFT collections are well down on their market highs of a couple of years ago, maybe NFT holders and communities like Pudgy Penguins are trying to convince themselves that they are still backing a winner?

Overall, however, I remain positive to the opportunities that NFTs represent – especially in the creative fields, and as a new model for IP licensing. Even if cute flightless birds from the southern hemisphere are not your thing, I don’t think you can dismiss or ignore the social, cultural and economic impact that NFTs will have.

Next week: “When I’m Sixty-Four”